Role Call
Refracted’s ongoing play reading series
Next Up:
April 14 at 6:45PM
The Understudy (5531 N Clark St)
Lumin by Emma Gibson
WHAT ARE WE DOING?
Part book club, part performance, part debate and part community healing, Refracted is calling together its talented artistic community together with the theatrically-curious Chicago community to investigate exciting works of theatre…in a setting where everyone has a role to play!
About the Play
The pigs are stressed, Liv won’t eat, and Ma wants everyone to follow the Constitutions. Set in a modern-day commune on the outskirts of the Chihuahuan desert in Texas, this new play about our need for community, asks why the line between delusion and what the rest of us believe, is getting blurrier than ever.
About the Playwright
Emma Gibson is a playwright, director and actor. Her plays have won the Pittsburgh Public’s New Play Competition, she has been shortlisted for the 2023 Princess Grace Playwriting Fellowship, she was a finalist for The Women’s Prize for Playwriting 2024, a runner up for The Ambassadors Theatre Group Playwriting award 2024, a finalist for The O’Neill New Play Conference and many more. Her plays have been presented and produced world-wide.
Her acting work has seen her performing in her native UK in the West End, touring across England, at The Edinburgh Festival and in Philadelphia where she now lives. Her directing work specializes in re-imagining classic texts from Shakespeare to Chekhov and in new writing. Emma was the founding producing artistic director of Tiny Dynamite. She also works as an acting coach, sound designer, voice over artist and audiobook narrator.
WHAT DOES IT COST?
This event is always free to attend! We are asking for a suggested donation of $10 (mostly to cover snacks, but also just to keep going!) Just register at the Eventbrite link provided so we have a sense of how many people are coming.
WHERE ARE WE DOING IT?
The Understudy (5531 N Clark St)
WHEN ARE WE DOING IT?
April 14 at 6:45PM
WHAT TO BRING TO IT?
Make sure you bring a device (like your laptop, ipad, or even just your phone) to read on.
Also, this event will be BYOB! Feel free to bring your own wine/beer/booze and SNACKS!
Refracted will provide food donated to us from local restaurants, but it is first come first serve. So, if you won’t get there right when doors open and know you’re going to get hangry, bring a lil snack you lil snack!
HOW ARE WE DOING IT?
Before we start reading the play, we’ll assign each participant who would like to “act” a role from the character list (it’s also okay to come just to listen if you prefer!)
At the end of each scene, the roles will be reassigned to new people, so that everyone who wants a chance to “act” while reading gets one!
At the end of the play, Refracted will host discourse around what got everyone thinking:
What do you think the play is trying to ask? What side of the story do you think was left out? What made you excited? Angry? Inquisitive? The goal of this conversation is to find areas where we disagree and investigate those points of disagreement from a place of empathy and curiosity.
When possible, Refracted will invite special guests, those who are experts and/or have experiential relevance pertinent to the play’s subject matter, to offer facts and firsthand accounts to inform the post-read discussion. Participants will have the chance to share feedback with the Refracted team about what they enjoyed about the play and where they found themselves in opposition to the story or characters.
We want to hear what you have to say! We approach the conversation from a spirit of inquiry and a hunger to learn about ourselves and each other from those with whom we disagree.
Follow our socials at @refractedco and join our email list to be first to hear which play we’re exploring next!
past role calls
March 2023: Hilary and Clinton by Lucas Hnath
April 2023: Fremont Junior High is NOT Doing Oklahoma! by Paul Michael Thomson
May 2023: CORONATION by Laura Winters
June 2023: Which Way to the Stage by Ana Nogueira
July 2023: Heroes of the Fourth Turning by Will Arbery
August 2023: Black Hat Duncan by Paige Scott
September 2023: Homeless Garden by Matt Minnicino
November 2023: The Thanksgiving Play by Larissa Fasthorse
April 2024: The Children by Lucy Kirkwood
July 2024: Mother Of by Katherine Gywnn
November 2024: Sheathed by Maggie Lee